Chapter 8

I hummed happily under my breath, just enjoying having a pleasant stroll around town.

"It really is nice to have a relaxing day like this." I said with a smile as I stopped by a local bakery store. The sight of cheese buns on display made my mouth water. I took out my wallet from my dress side and took out 35 Jewels.

Today was a free day for me! Usually during this time, I would be out in the woods with Gladius practicing my dodging abilities and defensive tactics, but he said I could take a rest for today. Yukino was busy learning how to wash clothes and insisted I take a day off too. With neither of them to keep me company, I decided to walk around town.

"Hm, I guess I can have a little snack." I said to myself as I debated whether or not it was a good idea to spend my money on a cheese bun. I gave the vendor the needed money, took the plastic bag with the bun inside it, and walked away.

As I wandered around, I noticed a few people gather at the entrance of the city. Curious, I asked the nearest townsperson the reason behind it.

"Karen Lilica said that she'll be visiting this town!" the townsperson said. "It turns out her job was a bit farther away from her guild and town, so she's taking a rest stop in the hotels nearby."

I narrowed my eyes. Karen Lilica? Wasn't she that Celestial Mage who cared little to nothing about how she treats her spirits?

I scowled at the news and turned around, walking towards the woods in hopes of taking my mind of the recent event. I didn't fancy meeting a Celestial Spirit wizard like her. She was just another terrible person who doesn't deserve to be a mage!

I stuffed my trash inside my other pocket and searched for a clear ground in the woods to hopefully practice. Once I was sure no one was around, I decided to take a golden key out of my holster.

With a smile, I held it out in front of me. I took in a deep breath before gathering my magical power in my body. A magic circle appeared below me and the key in my hand shone brilliantly.

"Open, gate of the lamb! Aries!"

The circle beneath me shrunk before bright light surrounded me. As the light disappeared, I stood in my place as I stared at the place in front of me, where a silhouette stood.

A pink haired girl was standing in front of me. She had a really curvaceous body and wooly clothes. I noticed her shuffling her feet, her gaze on the ground, as if she was terribly shy or embarrassed.

"U-um, did you call me mistress?" she asked in a soft voice, her eyes darting from left to right.

I sweat dropped. I knew she was very shy, but this was really something…

"Uh yes, I'm the one that summoned you." I said as I showed her the key in my hand.

"My name is Erika Roswell. It's nice to meet you, Aries."

The pink haired spirit looked comical. "Y-you don't have to be s-so kind to me!" she stuttered out. "I-I'm sorry…" she added.

I looked at her blankly. "What are you apologizing for?"

"Actually, I was wondering if we could make a contract." I said. "You do know Eufelia Roswell, right?"

Aries' face brightened up at the mention of my mother's name. "Eufelia-sama? Yes, I know her. She used to be my mistre— no, my friend."

I looked at Aries in slight surprise, amazed by how she was able to say a sentence without stuttering. A sincere and grateful smile graced Aries' features and I found myself smiling back. Mom really was a great wizard, wasn't she?

"I'm her daughter." I said. "My mom passed away, and in her place I decided to become a Celestial Wizard too. She trusted me with her keys, so I want to make her proud."

Aries' brown eyes widened. "Eufelia-sama… died?" she whispered.

I looked sadly on the ground. "I'm sorry Aries."

A few moments of silence passed by before Aries spoke up. "You look a lot like Eufelia-sama." She noted quietly. "And I can already tell you're just like her."

I looked up. "Just like her? What do you mean?"

Aries smiled. "Warm, kind, caring… I can really see Eufelia-sama in you."

I stared at her, wide-eyed. Aries then gasped and started shaking her arms in protest.

"I'm terribly sorry!" she said. "I got carried away! I shouldn't have said that! After all, you are your own person and—"

"Thanks Aries."

Aries stopped rambling and looked at me, who was giving her a sincere and warm smile. My heart was beating fast and I looked at the lamb spirit with genuine joy and thankfulness.

"That meant a lot to me."

Aires took a moment to understand before she too smiled back at me.

"Ohoho… a golden key? And in the hands of a child?"

A woman watched from a few yards away, her violet eyes watching intently at the two females who are in light conversation. The child was making a contract with the spirit while the spirit completed it. Once the contract had finished, the spirit dissolved into blue ripples and disappeared from the spirit world.

"This will be like taking candy from a baby." The woman murmured with a smug smile on her face. But when the small child turned around, the older woman gasped at her appearance.

"That kid!" she gasped. "She looks like that woman!"

The violet eyed lady clenched her fist in rage, but her face had contorted into sadistic joy. "Oh this will be even better than I had expected…"

"Oh man, now it's getting late."

I ran down the hill, swiftly but carefully dodging all the tree branches as I headed back for town. I got too carried away when I summoned Gladius earlier to tell that I was able to summon a zodiac spirit now without consuming too much magic power and ended up bragging about it to him for at least two hours!

As I approached the entrance of the town, I saw a giant shadow walk towards me. Alarmed, I stopped running and hid behind a tree trunk. I peeped out of the trunk to see who that giant shadow was. I was surprised when I saw that it disappeared.

"ROAAAARRR!"

I snapped my head back, finding the gigantic monster that had earlier been in the town entrance appear before me. Thanks to my trained reflexes, (I have to thank Gladius for that) I managed to dodge its incoming attack.

I landed a few spaces back. I took out a silver key from my holster held it out in front of me.

"Open, gate of the chisel! Caelum!"

The sphere-shaped spirit appeared in a flash. Both of us dodged yet another incoming attack from the gigantic monster. It was night, so I couldn't tell what exactly was attacking me. Maybe some sort of Vulcan again? Jeez, why do I keep getting attacked by these things?

I did a backflip in the air and landed on my feet. I turned to Caelum, who had somehow managed to keep up with me.

"Caelum! Cannon form!"

The spirit made a robotic noise of agreement and reverted into its cannon form. Green energy focused into the end of the cannon and as soon as it was ready, I yelled,

"Fire!"

Caelum's green blast hit the Vulcan square in the chest. It managed to push the monster a few spaces back, but then I noticed it standing up from its place and running towards me, outraged.

"Impossible!" I gasped. "That magic power was enough to push back a C class!"

As the monster neared me, a horrifying realization came to me.

"Don't tell me it's an A class again!" I cried before taking out a golden key from my holster. Before I could recite the chant to summon Libra, I felt my body turn heavy and fell on my knees. I felt a slight pounding in my head and my eyes widened in fear.

"No! Of all the times I could lose magic power!" I cried.

Damn it! I thought I could summon two golden spirits by myself with my magic power now that I trained, but I guess I couldn't! I can only summon one major spirit and a minor spirit!

I closed my eyes, bracing myself for impact. Fear consumed me and I felt tears prickle the corner of my eyes.

"Open, gate of the lion! Loke!"

I snapped my eyes open as I heard the monster's wail of pain. I looked up from my spot and was shocked to find a woman standing in front of me.

Since she had her back on me, I can only tell that she was wearing a pink furry cloak and that she had long green hair that had curls at the end. She held a golden key in her right hand and that's when I knew that she must be a Celestial spirit wizard as well!

"Loke! Get that monster!" the green haired woman cried out.

"I got it!" a manly voice said.

I looked past the woman in front of me and saw an orange haired man wearing a tuxedo battle the monster. His hands were glowing, as if enveloped in the lights of the stars themselves.

"I'm the leader of the 12 Zodiacs!" I heard Loke shout. "I won't be defeated so easily!"

"Grant me power, Regulus!" he chanted as his whole body started to shine. I saw Loke focus most of his power into his fist and used it to punch the monster backwards, this time knocking him out fully.

The woman in front of me turned to me and gave me a smile.

I blinked. "Karen Lilica?"

"My my, I never would've guessed such a young child to be a wizard."

I laughed nervously, not knowing how to respond. How do these things keep happening to me? I had already met Makarov Dreyar, then Erza Scarlet, and now there's Karen Lilica! Each are well-known and very powerful, and yet I know a lot more about them then they know about themselves.

Damn it, I sound like a stalker.

"You think so?" I said, trying to be modest when in reality I'm just trying not to be rude. She did save my life. I owe her at least that much credit, no matter how horrible of a person she is.

Karen nodded. "And to have Celestial Magic of all things. Did anyone teach you?"

"My mother did." I answered. "She was a better wizard than I am. I think the best I know of so far!"

Karen looked at me in mock-hurt. "Oh, I feel belittled!"

"Oh no!" I said, waving my hands. "I wasn't trying to be rude!"

I am! One side of me said.

Shut up! Another side of me snapped.

Gah, inner turmoil!

Karen chuckled. "Don't worry," she said as she waved her hand. "I'm sure if I met your mother, I could feel the same."

The way Karen was sugar coating her words to a child was pretty normal, but an uneasy feeling was circling my gut, telling me to avoid Karen at all times.

It was then when I noticed that she was sitting at the same side where I kept my key holster. I turned wary, but did my best not to show it.

"I think I need to go to the toilet Karen-san," I said as I stood up.

Karen nodded. "Alright then. I can understand if you're nervous meeting me, but I'm afraid what the Weekly Sorcerer says about me being picky isn't true."

I managed a smile. "I know Karen-san. I'm sure you're not that type of person."

As soon as I entered the bathroom stall, I pressed my back against the door. I placed my right palm on my forehead, my head bowed low as I tried to calm myself down.

Why is Karen here? She shouldn't have come across here on purpose. And why do I have such an uneasy feeling in my gut? This isn't what I expected when meeting her! Maybe she'll try something against me?

I looked at my key holster and stared at all my keys inside. I felt a wave of calmness sweep over me as I settled my eyes on them. These keys really are amazing. I won't give it up for the world!

Steeling my resolve, I decided to follow Karen once we finished dinner. I left my bathroom stall and out to the table we were sitting, only to find another man sitting beside Karen.

"Karen, this is stooping low. I know you're better than to trick that child."

I hid behind the wall on instinct. Child? Did he mean me?

I slowly peeped out of the wall, catching bright orange hair. I realized it was Loke, the spirit of the Lion. It looked like he was trying to reason with his mistress, but the look on Karen's face told me that she didn't give a flying duck about what he was trying to tell her.

"I don't care; to think that a child has most of the Zodiac Keys! I'm in more need than she does. She probably plays with those spirits rock-paper-scissors and asks them to be playmates!"

"That doesn't matter Karen. She's still a mage and wizard! She deserved those spirits!"

Karen gave Loke a dangerous look.

"Shut up Loke! You don't understand! My popularity is decreasing because I only have one spirit in my hands!"

Loke's eyes hardened, but it did show a tinge of sadness and hurt.

"Are you saying that I'm not a good enough spirit for you to benefit from?" he asked, his voice low.

"That's right!" Karen said. "I need more spirits! More spirits! If the press from the Weekly Sorcerer finds out I don't have another golden key, that small brat will outrank me!"

"Your popularity and image isn't everything Karen!" Loke said.

I gasped in shock. Karen was trying to steal my keys? Why? For her image and popularity rank?

I felt anger and irritation brew inside me. Mama gave me these keys! Mama entrusted me her magic and her friends! There is no way I'll let some arrogant woman like her get the best of me.

"So it's true?" I asked as I walked out of the wall, revealing myself in front of Karen. "You were trying to steal my keys?"

Karen looked shocked and angered, but she tried to smile anyways.

"What are you talking about, Erika?" Karen said rather sweetly. "Don't listen to Loke; he's just tired from battling earlier."

"I'd rather believe your spirit than you yourself!" I said. "How can you stoop so low?! You're not a mage worthy of handling such a strong spirit!"

"Like you can talk!" Karen spat angrily. "I have better things to do than talk with a brat like you anyways! Now give me those keys!"

Karen charged forward, aiming for my key holster. I dodged her attack and quickly squirmed throughout the tables and chairs, expertly maneuvering around them. Since Karen had a larger build than I did, she had trouble catching up.

"YOU BRAT!" Karen cried as I managed to get away.

I ran in the middle of the street, my heart pumping loudly against my chest. I took out a silver key and raised it above me as I ran away.

"Open! Gate of the Weapons Holder, Gladius!"

In a flash, the spiky haired teenager appeared behind me, armed with his silver lance. He had a cocky grin on his face as he stood in front of me protectively.

"About time, princess!" he said.

"Don't call me that!" I cried. "Just immobilize that green haired woman!"

Gladius turned to me in confusion. "Woman?" he murmured as he looked forward. His eyes widened as he caught sight of the enraged Celestial Spirit Wizard running towards me, her violet eyes wide and filled with fury.

"Dear God Erika, did you anger her while she was on her period or something?!" Gladius said with a chortled laugh.

"Shut up!" I said in embarrassment. "And nothing like that! She's trying to steal my keys!"

Gladius turned serious at once. "She tried to hurt you?"

"No, but she'll be using her spirit against me now." I said as I clutched Gladius' key tightly in my hand. "And he's the strongest of the 12 Zodiacs!"

Gladius looked at me in disbelief. "You mean Loke?! Why did you call me out then?! You should've called Libra or Aries at least!"

"… I never thought of that."

"Erika!"

"Sorry!"

"Loke!" Karen shouted as she neared considerable distance from me. The very same spirit appeared again by her side, looking at her in mild irritation and confusion.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Take her keys!"

I gasped. Loke's face contorted into anger, but it soon vanished. He then looked at me and Gladius with an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry little girl," he said as his hands lit up.

"Oi, oi, oi," Gladius said. "You're not taking anything from her."

"Give up Gladius," Loke said coolly. "You and I both know you can't defeat me."

"There's always a first time for everything!" he said as he attacked.

While Loke and Gladius were engaged in battle, Karen was staring at me long and hard. I was stumped. How can I fight against her? I only knew how to dodge and evade! But she was a Celestial Wizard too. She must have low combat skills as well.

"Just give me the keys and I'll let you go!" Karen said, her voice tight.

I held my holster. "No! You don't deserve these spirits!"

"Give them to me!" Karen spat. "You're only a little brat! You don't understand how much I need them!"

"NO!" I cried louder. "You're the one who doesn't understand! You should look for spirits and keys because you want to be friends with them, not because they'll make you seem more popular and amazing! You're too shallow!"

Karen laughed. "Oh please! Friends with spirits? Don't give me that crap! Spirits are just tools! Tools for me to earn more money and fame!"

"You're wrong!"

Loke and Gladius paused in their fight. I felt Loke's eyes widened in surprise.

"Spirits aren't tools!" I said. "They're like humans too! They have emotions and feelings too! They can decide whatever they want to do! You can't treat them like that! They aren't tools, and you should never toy with their emotions! Loke is your spirit, and yet you treat him like trash! He deserves better than you!"

"Shut up!" Karen barked. "Shut up, shut up! You don't understand! I deserve the best!"

Karen turned to Loke in rage.

"Loke! Kill this brat!" She said, pointing to me.

I gasped and took a few spaces back. Loke looked at Karen in disbelief. Gladius was furious.

"Like hell I'm going to let you do that!" Gladius yelled as he raised his lance to attack the Lion Spirit.

"Don't!" I called. Gladius froze and turned to me in shock. "Don't do it!"

Gladius looked at me as if I was crazy. "He's going to kill you!"

I turned to Loke, who was torn. I smiled at him and walked towards him, my arms open.

"You can kill me." I said to Loke. "It's alright."

"No it isn't!" Gladius shouted.

"I won't get mad." I said as I walked in front of Loke. He was looking at me in fear.

"Get away…" Loke murmured.

I shook my head. "Go on."

Karen laughed. "You think you can take an attack from the leader of the Zodiacs? Don't joke with me!" she said in a maniacal manner. She turned to Loke. "What are you waiting for?! Kill her!"

"Loke," I said. He looked at me, his eyes still wide. "You love her, don't you? You love Karen, right?"

Loke looked as if I had slapped him with a rubber chicken. He swallowed and bowed his head, giving me a small nod. His eyes were shadowed by his spiky bangs.

"That's why you endured this." I said. "You loved her too much that you don't want her to get hurt. But in turn, she lost sight of what was important."

"But… it's painful. It's painful to see the one you love get so lost in the dark. You were trying to be the light, weren't you? You don't have to judge. It's fine."

"Loke!" Karen screeched. "Kill her!"

"I…" Loke said. "I… didn't want it to turn out this way."

The lion spirit fell to his knees. I looked at him in slight surprise, and my eyes widened as I realized that tears were dropping to the ground.

"I can't… Karen, I can't." he said.

Karen was taken back and looked even more furious and enraged than ever. She yelled in frustration before taking Gladius' lance from his hands and charging towards me.

"Then I'll do it myself!"

I didn't have time to dodge. I only covered my head with my arms to brace for impact. But when it didn't come, I looked up from my spot.

Loke had used his magic to defend me. Karen looked as if she was being choked. Her face contorted into anger as she pushed the lance forward into Loke's hands, which he used to block the weapon.

"MOVE!" Karen ordered.

"I can't let you do this!" Loke said. "As your spirit, I have to reason out to you! This is my fault! I led you astray and covered you in the dark!"

Karen stared at Loke in disbelief before releasing her attack.

"Fine!" she said. She turned to me and glared cold daggers at me. "You cost me my strongest and only spirit, brat! You'll pay for this in the future, I swear!"

"You'll never be a Celestial Mage ever again!" I spat. "No spirit would dare place their keys in your possession!"

Karen looked absolutely livid. She raised her hand to punch me, but Gladius caught her wrist from behind.

"I thought you were pretty beautiful for a woman, but as it turns out you're just another bitch." He hissed.

Seeing herself outnumbered, Karen pulled her wrist back and walked away.

"Loke!" Karen called as she headed towards the exit of the town.

Loke sigh and stood up. He then turned to me and knelt down to my level, giving me a grateful smile.

"I'm sorry for the trouble we had caused," he said.

I shook my head and smiled. "It's fine. I'm sure you can help Karen realize that spirits aren't just tools."

Loke's smile never faltered. "You're a great Celestial Wizard. While I would love to have you as my mistress, I can't because I have a duty to protect Karen. You would become an even greater wizard in the future, I can assure you."

I blushed in embarrassment. "I hope we can meet each other again, Loke-san."

He nodded as I gave him a hug. He looked surprised by the action, but he hugged me back. He then stood up and looked at Gladius with a neutral and impassive expression on his face.

"Gladius."

"Loke."

Both nodded stiffly at each other before Loke walked away, trailing behind the fuming and angered Karen.

I watched as they left the town, their backs slowly disappearing into the night. I sigh and turned to Gladius, who was twitching.

"I hate that guy." Gladius muttered.

"How come?" I asked.

Gladius shrugged and looked at me. "But still, that was a pretty risky thing you did back there princess."

"Don't call me that." I stated before looking towards the village exit. I frowned sadly.

"Loke… do you think he'll be fine? Karen might hurt him, and he won't be able to retaliate against her."

Gladius shrugged. "He'll be fine. He's the leader of the Zodiac, and twice as powerful as I am."

"You really seem to hate him, yet you seem to idolize him." I said directly, which caused Gladius to look at me blankly.

"He's my brother." Gladius deadpanned.

I nearly fell over. "YOUR BROTHER?!"

[A/N:] Hey guys! I hoped you enjoyed that chapter. It was quite enjoyable to write.

About Karen's character, I figured that this will be how she would act. Since Aries ended up with Erika, she might have took Loke's key and became popular because of her influence in Blue Pegasus. I supposed that this kind of character for Karen is right.

Loke's behavior is pretty wacked up, but it will get better. He's just sometimes torn on what to do, because he loves Karen and doesn't want her to go through the wrong path, but he can't do anything about it. Tough love, am I right?

Anyways, as I have stated before, I had already created fanart for Erika when she's older! :D Link is below, just erase the spaces!

Link: cupcakeloopy. deviantart art / Erika -Roswell - 454660754

Reviews are love!